PB Rail
PB Rail started coming into being on April 14, 2003 when the layout of Track 1 was determined. Once the route was picked, track was ordered, elevations taken and a sod cutter was rented to remove about half of the lawn area in the back yard. Sod was removed and area was leveled very slightly as big trees were present as well as sprinkler systems and other objects that could not be removed. A trestle was required to elevate the track on the west end of the yard so approximately forty feet of trestle was built to scale involving some 792 pieces of scale lumber nailed into seventy-two stanchions.
Ground preparation was completed for Track 1 on April 25 and track laying commenced on April 26. The complete track system is soldered in place at each joint and bolted at the switch joints to prevent warping. Track 1 was completed on June 28, 2003.
The first locomotive arrived on July 13 with six cars of rolling stock and, on July 14, 2003, the train made its first round trip on Track 1.
In August of 2003 the route for Track 2 was picked and work commenced immediately as it was quite evident that one train looked lonesome in that large area. 'Double the trains, double the fun' was the approach taken to justify Track 2. Track 2 was a much bigger challenge as we now had to elevate Track 2 to be able to cross Track 1 as the property layout would not allow Track 2 to remain inside of Track 1 so an uninterrupted crossing was required. This led to the construction of the Confederation Bridge which allowed the elevation required to complete the uninterrupted crossing over Track 1. In plan A of Track 2, elevating the track then caused another problem in that, to get the train to go up, one required the train to come back down to ground level, thus another twenty feet of trestle was required. That would mean another 528 pieces of scale lumber to be nailed together into forty-eight stanchions and painted.
Track 2 was completed on September 19, 2003 with the running of the first train the same day.
In May of 2004, work commenced to reroute both tracks to the present layout as some extra right-of-way was obtained from the landowner, Loraie, that would allow a major extension of both tracks.
The Confederation Bridge was extended to include two crossings of Track 1 and make Track 1 297 feet long and Track 2 286 feet long. In 2004 the by-pass track was installed on Track 1 and in 2005 the by-pass track was installed in Track 2.
Presently the railroad includes one scratch built rotary plow, one scratch built track cleaner, five scratch built logging cars, five locomotives equipped with sound and digital control, forty pieces of rolling stock running on 700 plus feet of track in total.
The layout also includes a farm scene, a two lane highway, a pipeline construction scene a Thomas Gravel scene and a trapper’s log cabin. Passenger service will be added in 2010.
The flowers that the trains wind through are Loraie’s creation and hobby.
For viewing appointments call 781-4278
2010-03-15
Owners & Operators
Charlie & Loraie Langenberger
P.O. Box 485 Pilot Butte SK S0G 3Z0
Phone: 1.306.781.4278